The Silence in the Dark
by Russell Scottie
Summary: Bakugou has been having nightmares about his kidnapping and the events that followed, but he finds himself calmed in the presence of fellow student Tokoyami who is also having night terrors of that night. / slow burn BakugouxTokoyami
1. Chapter 1

Bakugou awoke with a start, the images of from his dream still flashing in his mind. Rapid breaths escaped his mouth as he tried to calm himself. Looking around it took him a moment to recognize the dorm room he had moved into during the day.

He'd been having nightmares every night since his kidnapping and the fight between All For One and All Might. He hadn't told anyone about them because he couldn't stomach the thought of someone looking down on him for having them, or god forbid they pity him.

A sudden restlessness filled him and itched at his brain to move. Bakugou threw off his blanket and got to his feet and began to pace. The restless itch failed to be alleviated by his hurried steps and the walls started to seem to close in on him. He needed to get out of this room.

Opening his door, Bakugou poked his head out to take a look at the hallway. The hallway was dark, silent, and empty. He walked out of his room, closing the door behind him and moved to the stairs to quietly descend them. Everything was dark and quiet, easing his frazzled mind. He reached the bottom of the stairs and walked out into the common room.

Moonlight streamed in through the large windows, illuminating the common room with its cold light. Bakugou halts in moving through the room when he spots a figure in the dark. He looks at the scrunched up figure under a window and recognized the figure to be his classmate Tokoyami. The shorter student glanced up to lock eyes with Bakugou before sliding his gaze back to the floor, ignoring the blonde.

At seeing him, Bakugou wondered if the bird headed boy was also thinking about the night at the training camp. He quickly discarded the thought, it didn't matter what the reason the other was there. Bakugou wasn't sure what it was that made him walk over to the windows and sit with his back to them, yards away from the other boy.

Maybe it was the moonlight coming in through the windows, maybe it was the open space, he wasn't sure but something about the evening calmed his thoughts and settled his nerves.

A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention, he turned and saw that Tokoyami's quirk, Dark Shadow, had emerged and was getting its chin scratched by its user. Neither the quirk nor user said anything and not for the first time did Bakugou wonder how the quirk worked.

Bakugou and Tokoyami sat in silence a comfortable silence for over an hour. Bakugou decided it was about time to try getting back to sleep, his thoughts calmed and nerves settled. He paused in front of Tokoyami, setting off a small explosion in his hand. "You better not say anything, bird brain," he growled before stalking back to the stairs.

Back in his room, Bakugou settled down on his bed and was able to quickly fall into a dreamless sleep for the rest of the night.


	2. Chapter 2

Bakugou stepped out into common room to find Tokoyami already sitting up against the windows. He walked over to the windows and sat down near the other boy, not close enough to reach out and touch, but closer than the previous nights.

They had been meeting up in the common room for the past several nights with it becoming more frequently for Bakugou as the nightmares increased. A few times he had almost turned right around upon seeing Tokoyami, but he has reluctantly admitted that he slept better after spending time together in the silence of the night.

When he felt a nudge at his arm, Bakugou whipped his head around, ready to release an explosion in Tokoyami's face, touching was not part of their silent deal, whatever this deal was. But instead of his classmate, it was his quirk and a glare over at Tokoyami revealed that the other boy hadn't moved, but looked just as shocked at what his quirk was doing as Bakugou was.

Bakugou turned back to the quirk, which in response the quirk gave him a second nudge, but this time accompanied by a soft cooing sound. All the other nights the two boys had met up, the quirk would always stay by its user whenever it came out, never venturing toward him before. Hesitantly Bakugou reached out with a hand, the quirk seemed to tense up as if remembering that this boy had hurt it several times in the past.

He rested his hand on the shadow, quietly amazed at being able to touch a shadow and Dark Shadow relaxed at his touch, leaning into it. Bakugou began to pet the shadow, marveling at how soft it felt and after a while realised the distraction had calmed his frazzled mind faster than other nights.

Before leaving to return to his room, he sent a glare toward Tokoyami as a silent reminder of his threat, but the bird-headed boy just stared back at him with unafraid eyes.

 **Next chapter will be a lot longer and have actually talking in it. There shouldn't be anymore short chapters after this.**


	3. Chapter 3

Tokoyami closed his eyes furrowed his brow, Dark Shadow would not quiet down and had been pestering him all day. Thankfully it was the weekend and there wasn't any classes that the quirk could distract him from. Sometimes Tokoyami wondered what life would be like if he didn't have a conscious quirk.

A knock on his door drew his attention. He got off his bed and answered it, revealing Midoriya on the other side. The green haired boy smiled at him and gave a little nervous wave. "Hey Tokoyami, a bunch of us are going into town to go shopping and I was wondering if you wanted to join us?" Midoriya asked.

He wanted to say yes, there was a new book out that he wanted to get, but with Dark Shadow shouting in his head and it taking all of his self control to keep the quirk from appearing, it felt unsafe. Unsafe for his friends. Who else could be hurt if he lost control of Dark Shadow again?

"I said no, shitty hair! How many times do I have to say it?" The shout grabbed the two students' attention, both turning to see Bakugou yelling at Kirishima on the stairs.

"Come on, Bakugou, it'll be fun," Kirishima tried as he followed his friend up the stairs. The following conversation was muffled as the two ascended the staircase.

Tokoyami and Midoriya turned back to face each other. "Sorry Midoriya, but I have some studying to do," he told him. It was a lie, but it was a decent excuse to get out of activities the class would come up with.

"Okay. Maybe next time?" Midoriya said and giving another nervous wave as he left.

Tokoyami closed the door and let out a sigh. He didn't like isolating himself from his classmates but he would do it to protect them. Grabbing a book, he sat down on his bed and began to read it, hoping that reading one of his favorite books would help quiet down Dark Shadow.

After several chapters of reading, a loud thud was heard from his balcony and Tokoyami scrambled to his feet, abandoning his book on the bed and summoning Dark Shadow. The thud was far too loud to be an item dropping down from one of the higher balconies. Tokoyami braced himself, ready for whatever it was.

Coming through the open balcony door and pushing past the closed curtains was Bakugou. The other boy took one look at him and smirked mockingly, letting a short laugh. "I didn't come here to fight, fucking bird brain, but I'm more than willing to smash your shitty face into the ground if that's what you want," Bakugou said. "Come on, we're getting the fuck out of here."

Tokoyami blinked at the intruder and willed Dark Shadow to disappear, letting his posture relax a bit. "It's quite rude to break into someone's room, Bakugou. And I'm fine here, if I wanted to go out I would have gone with everyone else," he answered.

"I've got you figured out, shit bird. You didn't leave with fucking Deku and the rest because you're fucking afraid of losing control," Bakugou said, grabbing the other by his shirt and pulling him close. "Get your stuff. If your shit control fails, I can beat you any time." He pulled up his other hand and let a tiny explosion before pushing him away.

"Fine," Tokoyami sighed, not wanting to fight with the loud blonde. He grabbed his wallet and followed him out of the room.

The two went into town and as Tokoyami was looking for that new book he wanted he couldn't help but wonder what was Bakugou's motives for doing this for him. Did this have anything to do with them spending time together at night? Could this be Bakugou's strange way of paying him back for sitting in the dark with him? Tokoyami didn't know and didn't bring it up to the blonde the whole time they were out.

When they returned to the dorms, Tokoyami turned to Bakugou. "Thank you."

"Whatever," Bakugou said as he stalked his way to the staircase. He paused at the bottom and said, "Listen here, you control your quirk, not the other way around. Got that?"

Tokoyami was left confused in Bakugou's wait. Bakugou was a much more complex person than he originally thought he was.

 **Hooray, they finally started talking!**

 **Anyway if you wish to support, please consider checking out my Pateron at /Russetfrost**


	4. Chapter 4

Several nights after Bakugou forced Tokoyami in going out to the town, Bakugou was trudging quietly down the stairs in the very early morning hours. He had forbidden himself from going to the nightly meetups Tokoyami for the last couple of nights, but the nightmares and sleeplessness had plagued him into coming back to the common room at night.

He stopped descending the stairs as he spotted a figure huddled in the landing between the second and first floors. It was Tokoyami. The bird headed teen was sitting with his knees drawn up, face resting behind them and arms encircling his knees. Bakugou thought his classmate was asleep, but then Tokoyami lifted his head up and looked right at him, his dark red eyes looking tired.

Bakugou quirked an eyebrow in a silent question. _What are you doing here?_

"There's people in the common room," Tokoyami answered in a whisper.

Bakugou strained his ears to listen and heard a burst of laughter that climbed up the stairwell from the direction of the common room, the laughter belonging to his female classmates. The blonde couldn't help but think of how quiet his room was that he left.

Fuck it.

He let out a "tsk," wondering what the hell he was thinking, and grabbed his fellow student's wrist, yanking him upright. Tokoyami looked confused but otherwise stayed silent as he was dragged up to his feet. Bakugou began to drag him up the stairs, toward Bakugou's dorm room.

As they made their way up the stairs, Bakugou couldn't help but notice how thin Tokoyami's wrist was. The bones felt fragile under his fingers as if they could break if he squeezed too hard. He couldn't help but think they were bird-like.

They arrived at his room on the top floor without anyone noticing and Bakugou opened the door. He pulled Tokoyami inside and closed the door behind him, letting go of the other student. Bakugou sat down at the head of his bed and closed his eyes.

He couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking in bringing the bird headed teen to his room. But he couldn't get the thought that something about the other made him sleep better than anything else he tried.

He opened his eyes and saw that Tokoyami was still standing by the door, awkwardly shuffling his feet. "Get the fuck over here, you shitty ass bird," he says, gesturing to the other side of the bed.

Tokoyami looked at him for a moment before moving to the end of the bed, settling down with his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Bakugou watched him, noticing again of how tired Tokoyami's eyes looked and wondered how none of their classmates seemed to have brought it up to the bird boy. Bakugou wondered if it was due to his red eyes which he knew was able to hide some sleeplessness since they had the same eye color or if it was the feathers which could hide bags under the eye which was something Bakugou couldn't avoid having. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

Bakugou grabbed one of his pillows and threw it at the bird boy, who let out a small squak of surprise at the sudden 'attack' and Bakugou ordered "Get some sleep, you won't be any challenge in training if you fall asleep during it." He flopped down so his back was on the bed, legs dangling off the bed. He hears some shuffling and after a while hears the other's breathing even out and he turns to look at him again.

Tokoyami had brought his legs up on the bed and had somehow shimmied under the blanket, curling into himself. As he stared at his classmate's peaceful looking face, Bakugou thinking not for the first time why he kept doing this and why with him. He doesn't even know anything about the guy, but somehow this works and gives him the calm of mind to sleep at night. He should really stop whatever this is before he becomes too dependant on it. Bakugou Katsuki doesn't need anyone.

Bakugou falls asleep and has one of the best sleep he has ever had. He wakes up several hours later to find Tokoyami also stirring awake. The two avoid looking at each other for a while before Tokoyami gets up.

"Thank you," he says to Bakugou. He pauses at the door and it takes Bakugou a moment realises why, it's early enough that someone might be awake by now and spot Tokoyami returning to his room. Tokoyami turns around and heads to the balcony, using Dark Shadow to prepell down to his balcony.

Bakugou watched him go from the bed. After he was sure the other was gone, he turns to the foot of his bed and notices a black feather resting on the pillow. He picked it up and felt how soft it was. It made him think of the person who shed it and he had the sudden urge to get to know the other. Bakugou placed the feather on the nightstand and shook his head to clear it of the strange thought. His thoughts turned to how pleasant the sleep he had in the other's presence and he couldn't help thinking that he'd like to experience that again.


	5. Chapter 5

Tokoyami wasn't quite ready to try sleeping yet, too early for that and was in bed reading, only a dim light on. It had been nearly a week since his and Bakugou's nightly meetups changed location. They had silently decided that the common room was too dangerous for their meetups, any classmate of theirs could discover them there. Tokoyami has been too nervous to go to Bakugou's room, worried he'd be turned away. So Bakugou has landed on his balcony almost every night and lets himself in through the unlocked balcony door and parkoured back up to his room in the morning.

He head Bakugou land on his balcony and enter, but didn't bother looking up from his book, though he thought it was odd how early the blonde had came down that night. He felt the bed dip as Bakugou sat on the end of the bed.

They sat in silence as Tokoyami read before suddenly Bakugou spoke. "Were you born with a bird head or did it develop because of your quirk?"

Tokoyami looked up to see Bakugou studying his face before he returned his sight to his book. None of their classmates had ever asked Tokoyami that question, though he knew they wanted to but felt it was too rude to ask. "Born," he replied, thinking it was odd for Bakugou to ask as this was not normal for them to talk to each other at night.

There was a pause before another question. "How do you communicate with your quirk?"

Tokoyami answered as he continued to read. He wasn't sure why Bakugou was asking these questions and briefly wondered what the reason was. Was he lonely? Or was he actually trying to get to know the boy he was spending a lot more time with over the last few weeks? "I direct Dark Shadow with my mind, but my emotions can influence his actions as well. However he has his own conscious and doesn't always want to behave. He can be unruly." As if speaking about it grabbed his quirk's attention, Dark Shadow slips out against his will and went over to Bakugou, now unafraid of the boy. Tokoyami stared at his quirk as Bakugou started petting it.

"How does it communicate?" Bakugou asked.

"He's more of a presence constantly in my head and when he wants to he'll speak to me, usually when he wants to come out or destroy things. He can also verbally talk, but that's more for other people," Tokoyami responded as he returned his eyes to his book.

As if to prove his point, Dark Shadow chirps, "Yeah, I'm the best."

Bakugou continued to ask questions which Tokoyami answers truthfully as he reads. He eventually fell asleep like that and woke in the morning to Bakugou was gone and his book on the nightstand.


	6. Chapter 6

Bakugou watched as Tokoyami walk out of the classroom the moment the bell for lunch rang. Kirishima and Kaminari were approaching him and with a growing headache Bakugou wanted nothing to do with them. He glared at them, growling "fuck off" as he grabbed his lunch and stalked out of the room, relieved not to hear footsteps following him.

He let his feet take him and found himself exiting the building and turning a corner to find Tokoyami sitting under a tree eating lunch and reading a book, a spot he had spotted Tokoyami eating lunch months ago. Bakugou was pissed that his feet brought him to Tokoyami again, but his head throbbed and he stepped forward, at least bird brain was quiet, unlike his usual lunch companions. He flopped down next to him, ignoring Tokoyami's stare.

After finishing his meal, there was still time before class resumed and he was tired from the throbbing in his head. He fell back, head landing on Tokoyami's lap, eyes closed tight, knowing he was crossing a line he had not dared to cross before. He felt Tokoyami tense up before shifting nervously. "Stop moving and stay fucking still," Bakugou snapped at him. Tokoyami stills and resumes reading.

Bakugou hears the distinctive sound of someone taking a bite out of an apple. He cracks his eyes open to see Tokoyami holding his book in one hand and an apple in the other. Bakugou watched Tokoyami eat the apple, noticing how the bird headed boy had difficulty taking a bite with his teeth inside his beak. "Why don't you use a fucking knife?"

Tokoyami looked down at him. "We are not allowed to bring a knife sharp enough to cut an apple to school."

"Tsk, just don't fucking get any of it on me," Bakugou growled and closed his eyes.

In the silence that followed that was only interrupted by an apple crunch every now and then, Bakugou felt himself relax and his headache ebb away. By the time it was almost time for the end of lunch bell to ring, Bakugou was feeling so much better, the terrible headache was gone and he felt well rested.

He sat up and pulled a hand through his unruly hair. He cast a glance toward Tokoyami and saw the bird headed boy was cleaning up the remains of his lunch. Bakugou collected his stuff and stood, still eyeing his classmate. "Thanks," he mutters before walking back to class, not waiting to see the other's reaction. His ears felt like they were on fire and he shoved down the feeling it stirred up as he walked into the noisy classroom of 1-A.


	7. Chapter 7

Midoriya was walking down the halls after having a private talk with All Might during lunch break when he heard Bakugou's voice. "Stop moving and fucking stay still!"

Midoriya blinked, "Kacchan?" and looked around the hall for the source of his childhood friend and spotted an open door.

Poking his head out and looking around, he takes a turn and spots Tokoyami sitting under a tree reading and in his lap lay Bakugou's head. ' _Kacchan and Tokoyami? What are they doing together? I've never seen Kaachan look so relaxed,'_ Midoriya thought as he heads back inside, not wanting to get caught spying on the two. He wandered back to class in a daze. His classmates saw his expression and questioned him about what was troubling him.

"Kacchan and Tokoyami…" Midoriya said and trailed off, still confused over what he saw.

"Tokoyami and Bakugou? Don't tell me they are fighting. Quick, Midoriya, tell me where and I, as class president, will put a stop to it," Iida exclaimed as he jogs in place in a warm up, preparing to zip out to stop whatever it may be.

"No… They were having lunch together," Midoriya says before realizing he probably should have never said anything to his class about what he saw.

"Bakugou and Tokoyami getting along? Have they even had a full conversation before?" Uraraka asked.

"Why are they eating without us?" Kirishima asked.

"Perhaps they are dating?" Aoyama says with a flourish.

The class broke out in discussions of this conclusion.

"Why didn't they tell us?"

"Maybe they are keeping their relationship a secret, kero kero?"

"Ah, they'd make such a cute couple."

"What the fuck are you fucking nerds going on about!" Bakugou shouted as he entered the classroom. The class quieted down to stare at the explosive boy.

Kirishima walks over to Bakugou and throws an arm around Bakugou's shoulders. "You'd tell me if you started seeing someone, right my man?"

"What the fuck, shitty hair? Get the fuck off unless you want to lose your stupid face," Bakugou growls, raising a hand that let out a few small warning sparks.

Tokoyami walked in the class at that moment and went directly to his desk, not even glancing at Bakugou who continued to shout insults and threats of violence at his redheaded friend. A few of the class started whispering among themselves.

Midroriya watched Bakugou and Tokoyami and while neither looked at the other, he noticed small things about the two. Bakugou appeared less tense which was an improvement from how tense the other was after his kidnapping. And Tokoyami appeared more rested than he was after he lost control of Dark Shadow. Midoriya wasn't sure what kind of relationship the two had but whatever it was it seemed to be helping the both of them, for which he was glad for it and hoped it would continue.


	8. Chapter 8

After the day was over and everyone was heading to their rooms for bed, Tokoyami was approached by Midoriya. "Hello Midoriya, what can I do for you?" Tokoyami asked, curious as to the reason his friend approached him..

"Tokoyami I need to tell you something. I saw you and Kacchan at lunch and I'm not sure what kind of relationship you two have, but don't stop. I've not seen Kaachan look that relaxed and peaceful for a very long time and I'm very glad that you could be the one to do that," Midoriya says and Tokoyami saw that while Midoriya seemed happy about it, there was a hint of sadness in the boy's eyes and Tokoyami wondered if Midoriya wished his childhood friend could have found him to take comfort in. "I'm so sorry, Tokoyami, but I accidentally let it slip to the class that I saw you two together and now the class thinks you and Kacchan are secretly dating."

Well that certainly explained why the class was acting so strange after lunch.

Him and Bakugou dating? He had never put any thought of having a romantic relationship before. He supposed Bakugou was considered attractive and he understood that the boy's personality would be considered unattrative. But dating Bakugou? It never occurred to him, he never thought of his relationship with Bakugou as anything with possible romantic implications. He just saw it as a mutually beneficial relationship, but perhaps romantic relationships are described that way as well.

"Thank you for telling me. Good night, Midoriya," he told his classmate, hoping that not reacting to the news would relieve some of the guilt the green haired boy felt. He closed the door and let out a deep breath. Him and Bakugou? He couldn't see it happening at all. Tokoyami shook his head and started to prepare for bed, however a part of him was still hung up on Midoriya's news and how he could possibly tell Bakugou.

That night Tokoyami couldn't focus on his book or even think about sleep, his mind stuck on the gossip his classmates had come up with. He turned toward his balcony when he heard the familiar thump of someone landing there and watched as Bakugou stepped inside and sat on the end of the bed. "Midoriya came to me…" he trailed off, unsure how he could word what he was about to say so Bakugou wouldn't get infuriated.

Bakugou tensed up and face darkened in anger. "What the fuck did stupid Deku say?" he growled, palms smoking slightly.

"He informed me our class is under the misconception that we are secretly dating," Tokoyami said, deciding that it would be safer for his friend to not mention that Midoriya was the reason for this misunderstanding.

Bakugou's face lightens from pure rage of the thought of his childhood friend brought and he laughed a rather bitter laugh. "Those fucking nerds," he barked out. He turned to Tokoyami with a large grin on his face, the grin held a dangerous glee to it. "Don't you worry your feathered brain about it, I've got a plan."

Tokoyami stared at him in stunned silence and gave a nod, wondering what the explosive boy had planned to get back at their classmates.

Bakugou calmed down after that resumed the new nightly ritual of Bakugou asking questions. That night he found out that Tokoyami lived in a far away prefecture so he previously lived in a small, cheap apartment and his parents were glad when informed that Tokoyami was going to move into the new dormitories.

Throughout the rest of the night, Tokoyami wondered what Bakugou's plan could be and he found out the next day when Bakugou, one of the last students to arrive for class, walked in and made a beeline toward Tokoyami, plopping down on top of his desk.

"Have lunch with me, Fumikage," Bakugou says as he stared down at him.

Tokoyami stared up at the boy, shocked. Bakugou who had never even used his family name before and just used his given name without any trouble. He wasn't even aware that Bakugou knew his given name. Tokoyami felt his checks warm, hidden under his dark feathers and his legs fidgeted unnerved. "Bakugou, what are you doing?" he questioned.

"How many times have I told you to call me Katsuki?" he sounded genuinely frustrated. Tokoyami noticed the tips of Bakugou's eyes were pink, which relieved him somewhat that he wasn't the only one embarrassed by what was going on.

"Katsuki, this is inappropriate," he murmured out, deciding to go along with whatever the other had planned.

The stunned class gasped and whispered around them. He was sure he heard a few of the girls squeal 'so cute!'

Bakugou turned to the class and yelled out, "What the fuck is wrong with all of you fucking nerds? Like hell I would date bird brain! Get your fucking heads out of the fucking gutter!" He was still sitting on Tokoyami's desk however as he declared this.

Tokoyami felt slightly hurt by the words and wondered why it bothered him when he wasn't even interested in that kind of relationship with Bakugou. The class broke out into conversations, most sounding disappointed that they weren't actually dating.

"Is this true, Tokoyami?" Iida asked. "Are you not dating Bakugou?"

"It is true, Bakugou and I are not dating," Tokoyami confirmed.

Bakugou got off his desk and moved to his own before Aizawa entered. Tokoyami noticed Midoriya was watching him with the look he always got as he was analyzing a situation before turning his gaze to Bakugou. Tokoyami wondered why Bakugou had to use their names when getting their classmates' attention.


End file.
